ITP support

Leading GCSE mathematics and English for post-16 learners in independent training providers

Welcome to this section of the GCSE Maths and English Leadership website which is aimed at senior leaders and directors of independent training providers (ITPs) / work-based learning providers (WBLs).

This website provides senior leaders and board members with information, guidance and resources to help increase GCSE English and mathematics capacity in the post-16 sector. Much of what is included will also be of use to organisations teaching maths and English at any level.

It is recognised that training providers face significant challenges of their own in meeting GCSE requirements. This page, and the ones that follow, are populated with information and resources designed to be dipped into and used as required. It is also recognised that not all training providers are currently involved in GCSE teaching; much here is also of use in the teaching of Functional Skills English and maths.

You can read more about the Policy and Drivers behind the current English and maths agenda, including information on government White Papers, OfSTED and funding. There is also information about how organisations can find the vision needed to lead in relation to GCSE English and maths, and questions they need to ask themselves.

Establishing your needs

The strategic evaluation toolkit below has been adapted from one produced by FE Sussex. It can be used by senior managers or boards of directors at training providers, as a step towards assessing your ability to deal with the challenge of GCSE English and maths. It can also be of use to organisations which need help with their strategy o management of teaching English and maths functional skills.

It allows you to answer questions to evaluate your current approach to the monitoring of GCSE teaching and standards by your organisation, and look at what you could do strategically to improve any areas where there is room for improvement. The toolkit cannot provide all the answers but it can help raise awareness of where further action is required.

To support apprenticeship providers to contextualise, embedand enrich maths and English outcomes in apprenticeships, as part of their Maths and English Pipeline, the Education and Training Foundation commissioned AeLP and CETTA to run a series of courses. These courses explore ways of planning maths and English provision that both supports, and is supported by, employers and better (re)engages apprentices in these subjects.

For providers yet to introduce GCSE teaching into apprenticeships, there is a step-by-step guide to English and Mathematics in Apprenticeships. It also offers general help on strategy for training providers in leading English and maths teaching, learning and assessment.

Deciding how to deliver GCSEs – whether yourself, outsourcing or working in collaboration – is a major decision. You can read more about different approaches to this, and how organisations are dealing differently with staffing issues, in our case studies .

Wider Support for ITPs/ WBLs

The Education and Training Foundation provide a range of services to employers looking to embed innovative approaches to their delivery of vocational teaching and learning; including:

Access the resources and insights developed when exploring the solutions to the challenges raised by the implementation of the Study Programme. Models for Study programme delivery, Teacher Readiness project and Work Experience project.

There are many sources of help with leadership and governance in relation to managing English and maths teaching, and with different aspects of teaching, available. There is more information about these on the following pages: